Antioxidants: A complete guide to what they are and why they are important to your health
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are a group of compounds that our bodies produce naturally. They can also be found in many foods and are our body's front line of defense against damage caused by free radicals.
What are free radicals and how do they relate to antioxidants?
Free radicals are produced in the body as a natural by-product of energy production. Even when we breathe and take in oxygen, we generate free radicals. From a biochemical standpoint, free radicals are atoms that have at least one unpaired electron, thus making them unstable and highly reactive.
Once they are created, free radicals roam throughout the body causing damage to our cells by stealing stable electron partners from other cells, causing more free radicals, more instability and more damage. This cell damage can impair our body's ability to fight against illness and speed up the aging process.
How
do antioxidants work?
Antioxidants work together in the body to maintain our health by protecting us from damage caused by free radicals. Here's how it works. Unlike free radicals, antioxidants are stable molecules that have electrons to spare.
When they come in contact with free-radical molecules, they freely share their electrons and stop the degenerative chain reaction of free-radical oxidation and damage.
Why are antioxidants so important?
According to Dr. Lester Packer, known worldwide for his expertise in the study of antioxidants, scientists now believe that free radicals are factors in the cause of nearly every known disease. Scientists also believe that free radicals play a major role in the actual aging process itself.
The good news is that there is now overwhelming scientific evidence that people who eat a diet that is rich in antioxidants and who take antioxidant supplements can expect to live longer, healthier lives.
How do I learn more?
To learn more about antioxidants, including how to make sure you have enough of them in your body to fight the effects of aging, click on the links on the right hand side of this page.
| These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The products on this web site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. |